


Eyes that Know Me

by MrKsan



Series: 2020 007 Fest Creations [3]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:01:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25576231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrKsan/pseuds/MrKsan
Summary: At the start of his career, Bill finds himself intrigued by a green-eyed boffin.They keep meeting.
Relationships: Q/Bill Tanner
Series: 2020 007 Fest Creations [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1827316
Comments: 16
Kudos: 34





	Eyes that Know Me

**Author's Note:**

> HUGE thanks to [christinefromsherwood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/christinefromsherwood/pseuds/christinefromsherwood) for being the best of beta readers!  
> Title from the song "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard.

The elevator dinged as it arrived at the lowest floor, opening its doors to a rush of cold air. Bill shuddered as he entered the IT Department. They always kept it cold here; nobody wanted an overheated server to crash the MI5 systems, after all.

Clutching his thick binder with nervous fingers, Bill dodged the cluttered tables and rushing boffins on his way to his destination.

Being a minor assistant to a minor official in MI5 meant doing a lot of leg work; collecting files and delivering messages, making appointments with whomever his boss fancied meeting at that moment. It wasn't exactly the exciting career in espionage Bill was promised, but still better than accounting.

He hoped.

At least the gossip was interesting.

Looking over the plaques placed on the tables, he searched for a particular one - ah, right at the far corner where various gutted laptops and circuits littered the small table. Piles of papers with sticky notes towered on the table, threatening to tip and scatter at any moment.

Looking around, Bill couldn't find the boffin responsible for the mess.

He looked at his watch. When he talked on the phone with the IT Analyst, they agreed to meet at 14:00. It was already 14:05, and no boffin in sight. His boss had a meeting at 14:30 and he _needed_ those reports...

He sighed, stealing a look at the papers and binders piled on the table. _His_ report must be somewhere around here, right? Maybe if he just shifted some papers….

"Excuse me," a voice behind him called, making Bill jump. Luckily, it wasn't enough to tip the precarious balance of the paper towers.

Bill turned around, greeted by yet another pile of papers. Bright, green eyes narrowed at him from behind thick-rimmed glasses. "Can I help you with something?"

Bill refused to cower under that sharp gaze.

Cleaning his throat, he answered simply, "Yes," watching as the boffin circled the table and put his pile on top of it. A few pages escaped, fluttering on the ground.

"I have a meeting with the IT analyst? Eliot, I believe his name is," Bill said as he picked the rogue pages, careful not to look too closely at the numbers.

"That's me," the man, Eliot, said. "Excuse my tardiness, the printer broke again - I have your report right here." 

'Right here' was under a gutted laptop, marked with a bright, pink sticky note. "Bill Tanner, was it?"

Bill accepted the file, and that could've been it - just another interaction in the grand scheme of MI5. But Bill eyed the circuits and computer parts scattered on the table, and his curiosity got the better of him.

"I wasn't aware that analysts were tasked with… repairs," he said mildly, tucking the file into his binder.

"Hmm?" Eliot was already deep into sorting his papers, graceful fingers trailing the lines and numbers. "Oh, just a few laptops that needed an upgrade, nothing quite official," he smiled distractingly at Bill. "Shouldn't you be getting into that meeting? He added, not unkindly.

Bill glanced at his watch. He was, indeed, already running late. "I do - how did you know?"

"We're spies, aren't we?" His eyes twinkled as Bill turned to rush to the elevator.

Interesting fellow.

* * *

It wasn't the last time they met. Bill and Eliot bumped into each other surprisingly a lot during that year, either because of Bill collecting more files, or Eliot delivering decrypted hard drives to Bill.

More than once, they ended up working late together, sometimes sharing an Indian take out or a hot drink, complaining about the quality of the tea, and their bosses.

When El was promoted to be a team lead, Bill bought him a mug in celebration. It was black with white whiskers and green cat eyes, which Bill thought suited him well.

Eliot _beamed_ at him when he saw the mug and proceeded to tell him about his cat, Newt. For all of them spending so many after-hours together, Eliot had never told him about his cat.

Bill felt like he’d unlocked some new level of friendship.

When Bill was offered a job at MI6, El offered to go out and celebrate.

"It might be the last time we see each other, what with our work schedules," he said, locking his laptop and files.

"We do have phones, El, we'll stay in touch," Bill said, but Eliot sent him a knowing look over the brim of his glasses.

* * *

Huddled in a dark corner on the bar, Eliot and Bill both smirked over their pints.

The pub they went to had a quiz night, which meant that most of the tables were occupied. Not wanting to go out into the rain and look for another place, Bill and Eliot made do with the corner of the bar.

It was one of the best nights Bill had ever had.

Eliot, as Bill found out, had extensive knowledge of almost every topic known to men.

"I read a lot," El shrugged, scowling as another group got the answer wrong. "Keeps the mind occupied."

With Bill's interest in literature and movies, they managed to guess most of the answers - whispering them loudly and earning several glares from the other patrons. One even tried to shush them.

They both snickered into their pints, getting a raised eyebrow from the bartender. The low light of the pub gently illuminated El's smile, and Bill might have realized just then that maybe he wasn't as _straight_ as he had thought.

Ordering another round, he shoved that thought deep into the back of his mind.

* * *

Work at MI6 was… Demanding. With long hours and stressful workload, Bill barely had time to interact with his coworkers, much less keep up with old friends.

He almost forgot about El, until a chance meeting around December. Christmas was already taking over the streets, shining with fairy lights and colorful tinsel. 

Bill was just getting the last on his shopping list - a few decorations for Christmas, just to liven up his new place, when he spotted a familiar mop of hair in the same aisle.

"Eliot?"

El blinked as he looked up. He got new glasses, Bill noticed, just as a grin broke on the other's face. "Bill! Didn't expect to bump into you here."

Bill smiled, turning his head so his beating heart wouldn't betray him. He finally noticed what El was holding in his hand.

"Hanukah candles?"

"Ah, yes. I do try to keep with the big holidays, you know?"

"Ah, of course," Bill said, not sure how to ask.

El seemed to guess, though, putting the candles in his basket. "Only half-Jewish, but mom always liked to celebrate the big holidays." He smiled at Bill, tilting his head at him. "Christmas decorations?"

Bill almost pushed the box with the tinsel behind his back. He wasn't sure why, just that his face was feeling hotter by the minute and El eyes were just a tad too green. Really, no one should look that pretty under the florescent lights of a grocery store.

He made an awkward shrug. "Just a miserable attempt to liven up the new apartment."

"You moved to a new place, then?" El asked. A lady with a full-to-the-brim cart made them huddle closer to the shelves, at which point Bill gave up and offered El to go for a pint. It was long overdue, after all.

* * *

"- and they made me the head of the Cybersecurity department!"

Bill couldn't help but snort. At least he wasn't drinking at that moment. "You crashed the MI5 systems and they gave you a promotion?"

El smirked, taking the last sip of his own pint. Bill did hear about the emergency shutdown at -5, but he never expected _his boffin_ to be involved in it. "Bloody hell, Eliot, you're lucky they didn't fire you!"

"I did them a favour," El leaned on his hand, glasses slightly skewed. "They should know better than to connect an unsecured laptop to a _secret government network_. Honestly." He shook his head, glasses slipping farther down his nose

Bill couldn't help but laugh at that: El's eyes sparkling with mischief.

The pub was dim and quiet enough, not unusual for an early Tuesday night. After a stilted conversation at the start - neither knowing what they could tell the other about their jobs - El asked Bill whether he’d seen any new plays recently.

Which led to talking about Shakespeare, which led to silly stories from work, which led to Eliot admitting his unexpected promotion.

Bill couldn't stop grinning at this, offering to buy another pint. El hesitated for a moment, looking at his watch - there was still work tomorrow, after all.

"We can call it a night, if you're tired," Bill offered.

Eliot looked up at him, pushing his glasses up as he considered Bill's face. He smiled, finally, nodding at Bill.

"Last one- don't want to end up with a headache like last time."

Bill got up and ordered another round. He even bought a packet of crisps for El, knowing he liked them with his beer.

Maybe he'd even get another one of those blinding smiles in exchange.

* * *

Bill and El exchanged their numbers again after that night, managing to speak much more often now that their friendship rekindled. At each outing, Bill felt himself falling more and more for the boffin, liking how easily they could talk and just be in each other's company.

One night they even went to see a play together - Richard II. 

El arrived just as they were letting the people in.

"Sorry," he huffed, taking off his coat. He wore a velvety green jacket with a dark vest underneath - and no tie. El smiled crookedly at him.

"Had a mishap at the lab - my tie got burned off. Hope it looks alright." He frowned.

Bill thought he’d never looked as gorgeous.

* * *

Then Bill got promoted to Chief of Staff.

Then the SIS building blew up.

* * *

It was complete chaos. Between making sure M was secured and mediating between everyone, trying to find out who was inside the building and who wasn't, Bill barely had a moment to think about anything.

Just when M finally shoved him out of the door of the safe house she was staying at, a dark figure approached him. Bill had his hand on his holster before he registered who it was.

"Eliot!" he hissed, grabbing the man by the elbow and leading him farther away from the jumpy MI6 agents. "I almost shot you! What are you doing here?"

Eliot let Bill walk him to his cat, where the street was better lit. They stopped, Bill finally getting a good look at him.

El was white as a sheet, his hair a bigger mess than usual. He looked at Bill with red-rimmed eyes, looking as tired as Bill felt.

"Eliot -"

Eliot got on his tiptoes, grabbing the lapels of his coat.

The kiss was just a press of lips on lips, so quick Bill could have imagined it.

"What -" Bill was confused, hands hovering over the shaking man. Eliot buried his head in his chest.

"I thought you’d died, too," Eliot mumbled, tightening his arms around Bill. "When I saw the explosion…"

"Oh," Bill said, finally letting his arms close around the boffin. His lips still tingled from the sudden kiss. "Sorry, I was -"

"Busy, I figured." Eliot's laugh sounded more like a sob. "I tracked your phone to make sure you're alright."

"You - what?" Bill gently pushed Eliot back to look in his eyes. "Did you just kiss me?"

Eliot laughed again. "I did."

"Why?"

"Because I'm an idiot who should have done that a long time ago," El said in a rush, turning his face down. His fingers twitched against Bill's back. "Is that - is that ok?"

Bill watched the heat rise in Eliot's cheeks, the red-rimmed eyes and pale face, and smiled. "We're both idiots."

Eliot looked up, managing a tiny smile, before burying his head in Bill's chest again. "I'm glad you're not dead."

Bill leaned his chin on Eliot's hair, letting one hand into the silky strands. "Me, too."

* * *

Afterward, when they were looking for a new Quartermaster, M gave him a few candidate files to look over. One of them was Eliot's - Bill had to go back and check the name twice, to make sure he was reading right. El didn't tell Bill even _half_ of his accomplishments. 

He did try to stay objective, but his eyes kept wandering to Eliot's file.

Finally, Bill ended up giving up and admitting to M that he couldn't be objective about the candidates; he was dating one of them.

M gave him a long look and dismissed him with a nod.

The day after, M threw Eliot's file on Bill's table and told him to hire him. She had a knowing smirk on her face.

"He's the best candidate, Tanner," she said. "Don't let your personal feelings in the way."

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this fic, may I suggested a [ TannerQ comic ](https://starrboned-art.tumblr.com/post/624653274465828864/tannerq-comic-i-have-a-very-soft-spot-for-them%22) to go with it?


End file.
